Expression and cellular localization of MCP1 (CCL2), e.g., in MS has been described in the various locations including the CNS. Evidence has established a role for MCP1 in the recruitment of inflammatory infiltrate into the CNS. Hence, MCP1 may be a target for specific and effective treatment in multiple sclerosis (MS). Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the human central nervous system (CNS). In MS, CNS inflammation is associated with demyelination and axonal degeneration, which leads to clinical presentation.
Exposure of circulating immune cells expressing the MCP1 receptor (CCR2) that typically mediate inflammatory diseases such as MS to continuously high circulating levels of MCP1 has been shown to desensitize such cells to the chemoattractant properties of the protein released from the tissue. For example, fusing the protein to an immunoglobulin so as to increase its half-life in the body of a subject has been shown to very effectively desensitize the cells (see US2007/0036750 A1).